Nation at War
by Dixie8688
Summary: This is sort of loosely based on the movie Red Dawn. None of the characters are the same. A national crisis happens in the blink of an eye when countries align with each other to take down the "Big dog" It's time for ordinary citizens to take matters into their own hands and become their own defense, take back their homes.
1. It Begins

_**Nation at War**_

Chapter 1: It begins

5/28/13

In a clearing up in the mountains off of a little known trail by a creek a young woman crawls out of a tent. She yawns and stretches as she stands up, her brown eyes blinking in the sunlight through the trees, her shoulder length sandy brown hair tied lightly behind her. Her husband a little taller than herself comes out of the tent right behind her. His hands start rubbing his eyes. He looks up at the sky with his brown eyes to judge the time of morning.

He runs his hand through his dark brown hair and looks over at his wife. "Time for breakfast or are we going to eat when we get back down to town?" He asked as he pulled a bag out of the tent and sat it down beside a stump they had used as a table the past couple of day's.

"I think town will still be there after we eat." his wife said with a smile moving back over to the tent to retrieve her bag.

"Good I really didn't want to wait." He said as he moved over to the spot they had made for their camp fire. He stirred the coals and put some new tinder on the coals to get the fire started again.

"I know dear. Do you want the Grits or the Oatmeal?" His wife asked as she grabbed a water pouch from her bag and two packs of instant oatmeal and some sugar.

"Oatmeal's fine dear." he said with his back to her putting some larger wood on the small fire now going and she smiled.

"I know." she said when he turned around to see her holding the Oatmeal.

"I see I had no real choice. I love you too dear." He said mockingly as he stood up and walked over to her.

"I just know you can't eat the same thing for 3 mornings dear. And I do love you." she said and smiled as he hugged her then picked her up. Spinning around in a circle like silly school kids.

After breakfast they cleaned out and tore down their tent restoring in into his pack. They pored the last of their water onto the fire pit to make sure it was completely out with no chance of restarting. They walked down to the creek and refilled their water pouches.

"Ok time to get started Will. Lets go home." The young woman said as she stood and walked back up the small bank.

"Right behind you Marie." the young man said as he fallowed his wife back up to their camp.

"How did you like the wild? No cell phones, no computers, no electricity, and no work." Marie asked as they started back down the trail. The trail was so small that they were only able to walk down single file.

"It was great, a nice break in the monotony in day to day life." Will said and smiled as they rounded a bend in the trail. The trail wound It's way down the mountain for a mile and a half before it merged into an actual main trail for people to hike up into the mountains.

"I can't wait for a shower though." Marie said with a laugh when her husband agreed without a seconds delay. They traveled for about four hours before they got to the area where they parked their truck.

"Just drive with the windows down?" Will asked once they got all their stuff stored in the truck.

"Yep, I'd say the air conditioner will be to cold at first it's been day's since we've used one." Marie said as she got in and he cranked up the truck. A cream colored new Toyota Tundra.

"Ah just leave it Marie we'll get it tomorrow." Will said once he parked the truck in the driveway and walked around to go unlock the door.

"Famous Last Words." Marie said and laughed as she climbed into the back of the truck. "Here catch!" she hollered as she tossed his pack to him.

"Thanks dear…" Will said with a grunt as he caught his pack just before it hit him right in the gut.

"Welcome, I love you!" Marie said with a smile and jumped down from the truck with her pack slung over her shoulder.

"I love you to dear." Will said with a smile. They walked over to the door and unlocked it then walked into the house.

"Take the packs to the laundry room babe. I'll start laundry before we go to town." Marie said as she handed him her pack. "I'll go ahead and pull down the food to restore our packs with."

"Alright. Then I'm going to go to the bathroom." Will said as he walked down a hall way.

It took them probably an hour to get the packs restored with food and the clothes they had worn moved over to the dryer.

"Alright lets get to the grocery store. The clothes should be dried by the time we get back." Marie said with a smile to her husband. She turned and walked to the front door where they hang their key's and waited for him there.

They made it to the town's only grocery store in about ten minutes. They walked into the store to hear a bunch of people saying "Hey! Their back!"

"The problem with working here…" Marie mumbled under her breath with her husband smirking at her. "Hey!" she said friendly to her coworkers as they walked over to them.

"So how was your trip boss?" one of the cashiers asked and the others looked at him then nodded.

"It was great like it usually is. Can't wait to go back next month." Marie said with a smile.

"You've got to tell us where you go once a month you always come back looking relaxed." another cashier said.

"Yeah… no… that's why I'm relaxed you people aren't around." Marie said with a small laugh as she looked around at everyone laughing at her joke. "Well time to shop." She said gently reminding everyone they are at work.

After about twenty minutes of shopping the PA System went to static, then the lights and computers shut down. Cans and boxes of food started to vibrate right off the shelves. Marie clung onto her husband as a new sound appeared to be right on top of the store. Marie looked up at her husband eyes very serious and nodded. They took off running back up to the front of the store. She pressed herself against the window to look up.

"Military planes and lots of them." Marie said and looked back at her husband and all the people in the store.

"Who's?" Will asked trying to see the planes as they came over the store.

"It's not our flag on them. Kids anyone recognize the flags?" Marie said glancing back at the high school kids she employed at the store.

The young man who had talked to them earlier stepped forward. "Red, White, Black stripes is Iraq I believe. Green, White, Black stripes is Afghanistan again I believe, Blue, White, Red stripes with a red star… North Korea that one I know we are learning about the Korean war in History right now. I didn't catch any of the others, but there were a couple more. What's going on?" he said.

"I don't know but everyone call your family's and tell them to grab everything guns, food, camping gear and get out of town." Marie said then looked back out the window to see things coming out of the planes. "Paratroopers." she said softly to her husband.

"My cell's not working." the young man said and looked back out the window terrified.

"Damn. Alright everyone here we go. Grab everything that you can possible think of to take camping, matches, lighters, fuel, any kind of food that won't spoil for a while and grab a lot of it. Then meet back here in five minutes. GO!" Marie said and ushered everyone in different directions. "Go get the truck babe and get our camping gear, guns, ammo, bows, radio, dryer stuff to. Ten minutes." she said to her husband.

"I'll be back." Will said to her and kissed her then ran out of the store. He jumped into the truck and took off.

"I'm counting on it." she said softly and watched him go leaving her behind with her employee's. "Get it together girl!" she berated her self, grabbed and bag and headed for the medicine isle. She grabbed everything she could think of cleaning off the shelves.

All the employees and shoppers met back up at the front of the store five minutes later. "Did anyone grab batteries?" Marie asked looking around at the crowd.

"I did. I took everything off the shelf." the same young man from earlier said.

"Good boy Kevin way to think ahead. Ok Oatmeal, Grits, pop tarts, breakfast bars?" Marie said looking around at everyone again.

"Got it, all of it off the shelves." an young girl around sixteen said.

"Great Kate, water, back packs, forks, spoons, can openers, can food?" Marie asked and looked around and several people answered this time one of which was and ex-Marine with a buggy full of water and she smiled and nodded to him. Bring your truck with you today Gary?

"Yes Ma'am always." Gary said, in his late fifties had his wife curled up around his arm.

"Good we can use that if you're coming with us that is." Marie said and looked at his terrified wife then back at him.

"I will do what ever it takes to keep Mary safe. Then I will take back my town alone if I have to." Gary said and placed a hand on his wife's.

"You wont be alone but would you like to bring it up to the front so we can load it. You too Kevin. And anyone else with a truck or an older vehicle." Marie said looking around at the crowd again. She watched as a half a dozen people ran out into the parking lot.

"Marie what about our families?" the young girl named Kate asked as she watched everyone start loading.

"Kate honey look out there." Marie said taking her to the window and pointing to where the town hall across town is supposed to be. They could hear a lot of gunfire, sirens, and see a lot of black smoke rising. "What do you think about heading into that to find them?" she asked softly and squeezed the girl when she felt her start trembling.

"I should be able to, but I can't." Kate said and started crying.

"Trust me baby, your parents would not want you to. They would want you to run like hell and get out of here. And that's exactly what we are going to do. We will be back for our family's but today isn't the day." Marie said softly as she held the young girl.

"She's right young lady we will be back and today is not the day for heroics." Marie looked up and smiled at Gary who had walked up very silently.

"Alright everyone gather up. Hand over your cell phones." Marie said looking at everyone again.

"My cell phone no way, I wont be able to call my parents." it was Kevin.

"They aren't working anyway Kevin. But they are traceable. Its only a mater of time before they track us down because of one cell phone, I-pad or some other junk like that. They can't come with us." Marie said as she looked at him then around at everyone else. "No purses they'll just get in the way. Stick everything you want in your pockets then leave them here. Take your ID's though and anything with your address on it!"

"She's right son give it up. We will slip notes and other stuff into town later." It was Gary again. And reluctantly everyone gave Marie their technology and she locked it all in the safe while grabbing all the money she could out of the safe.

"Come on lets go they are closing off roads and heading this way." Will said at the door.

"Alright everyone load up in the truck beds and cars lining the front of the store. Carrie front of our truck. Babe we are leading take us to the toughest trail possible." Marie said and pointed to one of her Front End Managers who is 6 months pregnant.

"Got ya. Only room for one up front though." Will said and looked at his wife worried.

"It's alright. Give me the shotgun." Marie said and held out her hand for the gun. Will handed it over to her. "Kate you are going to be beside me in the bed of the truck."

Kate nodded and followed Marie out of the store and hopped into the back of the truck beside her.

"Here you are going to have to hand me ammo ok." Marie said and locked eye's with Kate.

"You can count one me." Kate said with a new determination and drive about her. Marie nodded then looked forward over the cab of the truck. She beat on the top of the truck three times which told her husband it is time to go.

A line of fifteen vehicles left the stores parking lot heading for the nearest set of mountains. Marie standing feet apart bracing herself racked back the shotgun to load it and looked ahead of the truck looking for any sign of enemy.


	2. The Long Haul

Nation at War

Chapter 2: The Long Haul

6/1/13

"Marie!" Kate yelled as she tapped on her shoulder then pointed behind them to see Gary had pulled out of line, flashing his lights and was speeding up by everyone to catch up with the lead truck which happened to be Marie's husband Will. Marie was standing in the center of the bed against the window to the cab.

Marie hit the top of the cab then squatted so her husband could push open the back sliding window. "Babe Gary's in an awful hurry to catch us." she said and glanced back to see Gary now blowing his horn. He was only three cars back now.

"Alright see what he needs." Will said as he slowed down a little but by now means coming to a stop.

Marie started waving for Gary to come up along side. "What's up?" Marie shouted once Gary came along side and his wife rolled down his window.

"We are going right out by our house. Lets cut by and grab my gear, guns, ammo, and kids." Gary shouted over all the noise. Marie held up her hand and stuck her head back into the window to tell her husband, and together they made the choice.

"Gary, go get your stuff and kids then meet us at the point. You know where I mean?" Marie shouted at them then saw them nod. "Alright we will wait as long as we can for you but…" she said and left it hanging in the air unsaid with a lot of worry in her eyes as she surveyed the people in the back of his truck.

"Go on I have a general idea where your heading. We will see you soon! I promise!" Gary yelled then sped off ahead of the caravan of refugee's now feeing their own homes.

"I see he's on his way." Will said with a side long glance at his wife when she stuck her head back into the window.

"He promises he will see us soon." Marie said watching Gary's truck disappear in the distance. "Just keep going." she said and pulled her head back out of the window and took up her now normal position standing against the cab with the shot gun in her hand.

At the point, which is a spot on the lake about 5 miles out of town. Marie jumped out of the truck and started getting the vehicles parked in the best and easiest way to get them back out onto the main road.

"Alright all guys up front." Marie hollered to get everyone's attention. "We need sentries and perimeter guards." she said to her husband and he nodded.

"We need someone to go back and watch the main entrance for Gary and for any soldiers?" Will said to all the guy's once they formed a half circle around him and his wife.

"I'll do it." to no surprise from Marie it was Kevin.

"All right Kevin follow me, Kate you to. I saw a great spot on the way in for you to hunker down in and watch." Marie said and started to walk back down the road with Kevin right behind her. "This is it. This is going to be a hard assignment. When you see someone, anyone you stay put, stay still. I can't stress that enough do not move! Once the vehicles have passed then send Kate back to us to tell us how many and who just passed. Got it?."

"What about Gary if he just pops in on ya'll he'll scare the crap out of everyone?" Kate asked looking puzzled at Marie.

"Stay hidden until you see for absolute certainty that it is Gary. Then wave him down. Tell him to beep his horn three short times. We will know it's him." Marie said and looked between the two teenagers. "This is something you can not mess up. All of our lives depend on you warning us of danger or lack of danger." She said locking eye's with both kids.

"We'll take care of it boss." Kevin said and nodded to Marie. Kevin and Kate got into the brush so that it was easy to see the road but impossible to be seen by passing vehicles.

"I know." Marie said as she watched them get into the brush.

Just as Marie was walking back into the clearing she heard "Who put you two in charge anyway?" a man asked in his mid twenties.

"Jeremy do you have any idea on where to go, how to get there, or what to do next?" Will asked and saw a lot of the other people nodding and looking back at the young man named Jeremy.

"Who knows I might have." Jeremy said defiantly.

"Oh drop the bull shit and answer the question. Do you or don't you?" Marie said as she walked up beside her husband. "Didn't think so. Now you are more then welcome to walk back to town and try and tuff it out with the soldiers, or try and survive on your own, or you can come with us. You chose to follow us at the store. Now choose to stay or go. If you stay you will listen to us and we will listen to your idea's. But make no mistake if you endanger anyone that stay's you are a threat and will be treated as such." she went on without really giving him a chance to do more then stutter a few syllables.

"This is BS man I am not taking orders from you two. You have no idea what your doing. I'm out of here. Anyone else with me?" Jeremy said and looked around at the crowd of people. None of which were meeting his gaze. Everyone was more interested in the sand under their shoes or the surroundings. "The hell with all of you!" he yelled and started walking back to the main road.

"Anyone else want to follow that turkey you better get going now." Will said and looked around at everyone who was now looking up and at him and his wife. "Good."

Marie looked at everyone gathered around in front of her and put her finger up to her lips so that everyone knew to stay silent for a few minutes. "Alright we are going to hang out here until dark then head down the valley along the mountains until we get into Georgia and see if these SOB's have made it that far but I'm guessing they have the whole east coast. And if they do we will head west until we find friendly territory." She said kind of looking over her shoulder watching Jeremy go making sure she was speaking loud enough for him to hear her.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side Marie." Will whispered in her hear as he kissed her cheek.

An hour after Jeremy had left on foot. Kate emerged from the bushes. She was crouched and running looking back down the entrance road to the point. "Marie! 4 armored cars drove by about five minutes ago. They had a man standing out of the roof with a mounted gun. Kevin said they have Korean flags on them." She said as she ran up to Marie and her husband.

"Alright get back to Kevin and tell him to hurry back here. We will pick you up at the road in ten minutes keep watch." Marie said and watched the young girl go back into the brush where she had came out.

"We are done waiting mount up!" Will yelled as he put his hand up in there air and made a circular motion.

Everyone jumped up from where they were and started scrambling to get the small things packed away again. It took them about five minutes to get everything back where it was and for Kevin to get back to the area.

"You done good. Now lets go." Marie said as she looked Kevin in the eye and patted his cheek. Without a word he hopped into his truck and cranked it up. She looked around to make sure nothing and no one was getting left behind. She jumped into the bed of their truck and hollered "Let's go!" and slowly they started to move out towards the main highway.

"Marie, I forgot to tell you Jeremy walked the same way the armored trucks went, the way we are going." Kate said as she jumped up into the bed of the truck.

"Damn. Before or after?" Marie asked as she looked down the road for any sign of company.

"Before. We should meet up with him soon…" Kate said unsure if it was a good thing or not.

"Alright good job Kate." Marie said and leaned down. "Babe we are going the same direction as Jeremy and the armored trucks. He went by before the trucks."

"Great keep an eye out for both." Will said and stiffened in the seat making himself taller to see farther down the road.

"Marie! Here comes a dump truck and it looks like hell." Kate yelled and pointed back behind the line of vehicles. "There's Gary too."

"Will here comes Gary and his dump truck. Looks like they been through hell. He's trying to come up along side again." Marie said through the window.

"Marie! They caught us at our house. They split up into two groups, one stayed to take care of us the other was looking for the big group that left town. We barley got away." Gary yelled once he caught up.

"Damn. Thanks Gary. There's a group of four armored Trucks that passed while we were at the point waiting for you." Marie yelled.

"That's them! We brought the dump truck to act as a mobile battering ram." Gary yelled and then smiled as he pointed back with his thumb. And to Marie's surprise it had stayed up with Gary truck.

"Perfect. Get in line and we will put the dump truck in front once we catch up to the enemy." Marie said with a wicked smile. Gary winked then backed off a little to fall into line behind Will and Marie with the dump truck behind him.

"Marie!" Will yelled and pointed ahead of them. He had spotted Jeremy dead by the side of the road obviously he had been trying to run for his life and was shot repeatedly in the back by an automatic weapon.

"Keep going there is no help for him now…" Marie said with tears misting her vision. "Damn him… If he told them anything they'll be blocking the next intersection." She said softly as she took up her normal position looking for their enemy now not too far ahead of them.

Sure enough that's where they were. Two side way's blocking the road and the other two on each side of the road making it to where they couldn't just go around with cars.

"Every one Get Down!" Marie turned and yelled to the people in the bed of the truck with her, while motioning down with her free hand. She looked up at Gary and pointed back to the dump truck waving it around to the front. "Here we go!" She yelled once the dump truck started making it's way around to the front.

"Stop you are under federal order to stop where you are!" A foreign voice said in English through a microphone.

"YOU ARE NOT OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!" Marie yelled back while flipping the bird. She then took aim at the person standing behind the trucks with a microphone in his hand. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" She yelled again. Now the dump truck was riding beside them.

"You are commanded to stop! No one is allowed in or out of this are…" the voice said again but he got no further, because Marie had shot then waved the dump truck to go in front. She ducked down behind the cab and waited for the dump truck to ram through the enemy. Once they did she jumped up and aimed to the side of the truck firing at any one who moved then she turned to the other side and did the same thing then going back and forth several times. Trying to make sure they wouldn't be able to get off any shots at the people following them. After ramming through the road block it pulled off the side to let every one pass. Then jumped back in line at the end of the group of vehicles.

They were lucky when the dump truck hit the two trucks in the middle of the road swung all the way around knocking the other two trucks on the side of the road over on their sides. Between that and the firing Marie was doing their enemy didn't get back in order until the last vehicle was passing and even then they couldn't seem to hit anything.

"Well we are most wanted now." Marie said as she sighed and reloaded the shot gun again. "6 shot's at a time isn't a way to fight a war." she mumbled to herself.

"Marie I've been thinking. They are going to know right where to look for us because of all these vehicles. We can't just make them disappear." Kate said looking at Marie curiously.

Marie looked back to see all the vehicles following them. "Everyone will have to get out at the tail and start up while the drivers ditch the cars as best as possible." She said then looked down at Kate. "Good thinking."

Once they reached their destination everyone started unloading all the vehicles and moving the stuff into the woods. Marie pulled Will off to the side. "You and Gary know all the hidden back roads that aren't on any maps. You guy's are going to have to lead these drivers to places to hide their cars and trucks. We can't have them being spotted. Kate pointed out that they will know right were to look with all these car's just parked here."

"Yeah I know I was thinking the same thing. You know the trail as good as I do. We will be one day behind you at the most." Will said and looked at his wife. They both nodded to each other, knowing it had to be done but unwilling to part way's.

"I love you." Marie said softly as she hugged her husband.

"And I love you. Keep them moving into the dark hours get as far up the mountain tonight as possible. I'd say stop around midnight to rest. We should catch up tomorrow." Will said as he hugged her tightly not wanting to let go. He finally pulled away and kissed her. "I will be back." he said with a small smile.

"And I will be waiting. If we have to deviate from the path we've chosen I will leave a messenger where we leave the path." Marie said and smiled up at him. "Lets get started."


	3. A New Home

Nation At War

Chapter 3: A New Home

6/4/13

Marie watched as her husband went to the south with half of the vehicles that were following them plus the dump truck. They planned on hiding the vehicles down some of the old forgotten paths that are not on any map dating back 30 years. Then put the dump truck farther south and make it look like it had broken down and was abandoned while trying to make it appear they were heading towards Georgia. Gary took the other half of the vehicles north just so that the vehicles were close if needed but not clustered together .

All the drivers had taken four day's worth of supplies just to be safe. The thought of having to hide from patrols and taking the dump truck farther south made everyone a little nervous without enough supplies.

"Alright everyone. Do you have your packs?" Marie said as the line of cars her husband was leading disappeared around the bend. "Another thing. Any Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics?" she asked and looked around.

"I'm a Nurse Practitioner and my brother who just left is a paramedic. My name is Sydney." a woman in her late 20's said as she stepped forward and pushed her long black hair behind her ears.

"Great. Carrie honey where are you?" Marie asked then spotted her stepping forward. "Sydney meet Carrie our resident Prego. I'm pairing you two together for this hike, you need anything at all let me know." She said looking around at everyone else. Most of the people she knew pretty well but others she was less familiar with.

"All right anyone else with medical issues step forward." Sydney said after she shook hands with Carrie. She looked around to see only a couple others step forward mostly older folks. "Ok, Marie right? Can we put some of the younger folks with me and these fine people?" She asked.

"Of course. Any volunteers?" Marie asked as she looked around to see some of the teens that she employed step forward. *I'm so proud of these kids.* she thought as she smiled at them then paired them off with the older folks.

"Alright we are set." Sydney said with a smile after looking over all the kids and their older counterparts.

"One more thing. Any hunters or trackers with us?" Marie asked curiously.

"My brother and I hunt and track dear." a young man said as he raised his hand.

"Great. Come up here please." Marie said and motioned the two forward. "Ok this is what I need you two to do. Stay back about a hundred feet from the rest of us and hide our passing. That and keep a look out for enemy followers, and our two missing parties." She said as she pointed to the tracks their group had already left into the forest then in the two directions that the vehicles went just to make sure they understood.

"No problem Ma'am I do believe we can handle that." the young man said and smiled then looked at his brother who nodded a conformation.

"Every one else just pair up for the hike. No one is to be alone this is a long hard hike." Marie said and watched as everyone paired up and once they were done. She nodded then walked over to Sydney and Carrie. "I'll help you two up. Let's go." she said and smiled.

Daylight turned to dusk then dusk to night and they moved up the trail which was steadily getting steeper. They had pulled out the flash lights and batteries during one of their earlier 15 minute break. Marie had made sure they took breaks every two hours so that everyone kept up their strength.

"Ma'am when are we going to stop for the night?" Carrie asked in a very small voice.

Marie looked over at her very concerned. "Will and I decided to stop around midnight so that we got as much distance between us and the road as possible. That's about another hour. Are you all right?" she asked glancing over at Sydney who had the same worried look.

"Just very tired that's all. Not used to hikes." Carrie said with a small smile.

"Stopping an hour early won't be that bad Ma'am I'm sure everyone is wore out. It's been a very emotionally traumatizing and physical day. It is my opinion that we should stop." Sydney said looking over at Marie curious to see if she would take her medical opinion.

"Agreed. Next semi flat spot." Marie said and immediately started looking around trying to find any spot close to the trial that looked good enough for 100 people to rest for the night.

About ten minutes later they found a nice narrow but long flat spot that spread across the track. "I think that's the best it's going to get." Sydney said as she glanced around at the area.

"I believe you are right." Marie said as she helped Carrie down to sit against a tree. "Alright everyone find a spot and call it yours for the next six hours." she said and motioned around to the clearing then setting her back pack down by another tree.

"Just six. They really need eight." Sydney said softly once she got up beside Marie who was walking around helping people take off their bags so that they could get into a more comfortable position quickly.

"This is summer. The valley starts getting the first ray's of sunlight around six. We need to be on the move by then. We should be able to take longer breaks tomorrow. It's only one more day's walk to where we are going." Marie said softly to as she continued to walk around and help people with their stuff.

"I want to be able to check all my people out before we leave tomorrow though." Sydney said and the look on her face said no arguments.

"Of course Dr. and I would like to request that the first chance you get once we get to our new home that you check everyone out. Then take inventory of the medical supplies we have and make a list of things you need." Marie said with a soft smile.

"Of course." Sydney said and nodded to Marie then turned and walked back to Carrie to check on her condition now that she had been able to rest for several minutes.

The night came and gone with little incident. The two brothers stayed on guard duty for two hours then were relieved by another two people. That cycle continued until day break when the brothers took their positions back so that the party could continue up the mountain.

"Ma'am other than being extremely tired and a few sprains from yesterday's walk we seem to be ready to go." Sydney said after she had examined all the people who were charged to her care for the hike.

"It's Marie please. How do you think they will fair with another long hike today?" Marie asked curiously looking around at all the faces.

"Depends you said something about longer breaks today?" Sydney said curiously.

"Two hours of walking will be a fifteen minute break. Four hours will be thirty minutes. And that will repeat until we get there." Marie said as she brought her attention back to Sydney.

"And how many times will that repeat?" Sydney asked as she looked around at everyone else who was packing their stuff away.

"Depending on how fast we are moving. Two maybe three. But after two times we will take a two hour rest period. I don't want to run them into the ground." Marie said as she followed Sydney's gaze around the camp.

"That sounds reasonable. Has everyone had breakfast and got water?" Sydney asked brining her attention back to Marie again.

"I made sure of that while you were examining your people this morning. They even got breakfast when you were done with them." Marie said and smiled also bringing her attention back to Sydney.

"You are very thorough." Sydney said with a lot of warmth and affection she had watched Marie well into last night walking through the camp checking with people and giving a hand when needed. Marie had finally laid down to rest after everyone else seemed to be asleep.

"I have to be. A hundred plus lives depend on it." Marie said with a small smile looking around at everyone again seeing most every one was ready. She grabbed her pack and put in over her shoulders. "Ready?" She asked with a small smile also picking up two banana's, an apple, and Sydney's own water battle refilled of course.

"I thought we only brought non perishable stuff?" Sydney said with a small smile.

"One of the kids grabbed fresh fruits and vegetables. Said it wouldn't expire for day's." Marie said and smiled then shrugged. "Good idea if I do say so myself. Some of those things can be replanted and taken good care of will sprout again for us." she said as she helped Carrie up to her feet. ~*~*~*~

Will had hidden all the vehicles very well then he and the other drivers covered the tracks up into the hiding spaces to ensure that the enemy wouldn't go investigating. Now he had hidden all the people except himself and the dump truck driver. *Time to get rid of this thing.* he thought and followed the dump truck with his own truck so that they could drive back up to where everyone was hidden.

Gary's son finally pulled off the road kind of sideways. "This is far enough right." He asked as he hopped out of the dump truck. They had driven for another hour towards Georgia.

"Looks good to me Travis. Now pull that part." Will said and pulled around the dump truck so he could turn around and be ready to hightail it back to the others.

Travis jumped up and lifted the hood and pull what looked to be a fuse out of a little box. "Won't be able to start it now." he said and closed the box carefully then slammed the hood back down.

"Great now lets get out of here." Will said opening the passenger door for Travis to get in. Will sped off doing twice the speed they had done coming down south they made it back to the others quickly.

"That took forever." one of the drives complained as he hopped into the bed of Will's truck.

"It was necessary though." Will said and once everyone was ready he took off again.

They made it almost all the way back to where they had started when Will pulled off the road and into a small cove about 150 feet off the road. He pulled over to one side up against the tree's. "Alright lets get this one hidden really well and the tracks covered. We are walking from here." He said once he had jumped out of the truck. Travis took half the drivers to go back and cover the trucks tracks while Will had the other half helping him camouflage his truck with tree limbs, leaves, and other debris so it would blend into the background.

"The route we are taking is a little harder then the main party but we should catch up tomorrow." Will said looking around at his small group wondering how his wife was faring with the main large group.

"Let's get it done." Travis said and all the other guy's nodded in agreement. Then the most unearthly sound of gears grinding made it to their ears.

"Get down!" Will said as she ducked behind the truck and dragged a couple of others with him. "Stay here!" he whispered then crawled out from behind his truck over to the start of the trail they had taken and peaked around the tree's. And to his horror he saw a ten vehicle military convoy driving down the road heading south.

Travis watched from the back of the truck to see if Will would need any help. He heard some shuffling behind him and turned to look as a couple of the guy's had backed away. "If you want to live you will stay very still." he said warningly with the look of 'don't tempt me' on his face. Everyone stopped and looked at him very shocked. "Lay down on your backs." he whispered glaring at the one's who had drawn his attention.

"But the soldiers." one of them whined while the others did what they were told.

"If you keep moving and talking they will come for you. Now shut up and lay down." Travis said in a very dangerous tone.

After about twenty minutes they could no longer hear the convoy. So Will in a crouch ran back to the truck. "What the hell? This isn't time for naps." He said looking around at everyone like they were nuts.

"They were making noise, about to bolt. I made them lay down on their backs." Travis said standing up for his idea and taking the blame if he was wrong.

"Oh. That's a good idea. We'll have to remember that. Lets get out of here before they come back." Will said as he grabbed his stuff then clapped Travis on the back. "You're a good man Travis. Your father done right." he said then moved off to take the lead.

Travis smiled and took up his position at the back of the group so he could cover their tracks as best as possible.

Gary and his men had hidden their vehicles and had made their way up a side trail that eventually would lead into the trail the main group was on. Gary also had a man at the back of his group covering their tracks. He heard three sharp distinctive whistles. He held up his hand in a closed fist and sank down into cover looking around for what made the sounds.

Marie and the rest of the camp heard the whistles. Every one got very still and quiet. Marie quietly slipped to the edge of camp with her shot gun. She looked around the edge of a tree at the mountain path and saw a small movement. She racked back the shot gun and swung it around the tree keeping herself mostly concealed as she aimed at the movement but looked around for any other signs.

Gary heard the shot gun and relaxed. "The main party. But no one move." Gary whispered as he looked back at his group who all nodded. "Marie!" he shouted.

"Who's there!" Marie demanded recognizing the voice but unable to put a face with the voice.

"Its Gary and my drivers." Gary said and waited for a reply. He knew all to well the shot that Marie was with that gun of hers.

"Step out. Alone!" Marie said and waited to see where he would come from, and sure enough it was where she had her gun aimed. "Alright the rest of you. Come on out." she said but didn't lower her gun.

"We are all out in the open now Marie." Gary said as he motioned to the rest of his group.

Marie felt what seemed like a sigh from the entire camp as the tension disappeared when she lowered her gun and stepped out into the open as well. "Glad you could make it." She said and smiled as she shook Gary's hand.

"Are you going to take on a whole army with just that shot gun?" Gary asked then smiled to make sure she didn't take offence.

"I guarantee you I'll take out the people in the lead." Marie said with a smile. Then the smile faded as she realized it was just Gary's group. Her husbands group is still missing.

"That whistling is what got our attention. We thought we had another several hours of walking ahead of us." Gary said and motioned his men to find a place in camp and settle down.

"We've been here for a day and a half." Marie said as she looked up at him. "It got our attention to. We thought it was you."

"It was me Marie. Sorry couldn't think of a faster way of doing it. By the time they crested that last hill they were almost on top of us. I didn't know who they were. I couldn't recognize them in the shadows." a young man said as he approached with his head held down in shame.

"Son it's all right. It kept her from shooting me as we stumbled up into the bee hive." Gary said as he patted his youngest son James on the back.

"He's right James. I had assumed you would have enough time to send a message to alert us. If this is anyone's fault it is mine. I'm just glad no one got hurt. We still have a another group out there. Gary got a better idea for a signal?" Marie said first looking at James and then returning her attention to Gary.

"Well actually James do you have your bow and arrows with you?" Gary asked curiously.

"They are at my pack but yes I have them." James said a little confused.

"When you see some one coming I want you, with your permission of course, to aim it at the ground in camp and fire until we notice." Gary said and saw comprehension in his son's eye's.

"Fire arrows into the camp…" Marie said a little uncertainly.

"Yes he will find you, Will, or myself then fire an arrow either into the dirt or into a tree trunk. It will get our attention but not that of the oncoming party." Gary said as he put his arm around his son's shoulders.

"And you are sure?" Marie asked curiously looking between father and son.

"You and Will are not the only ones who prepare for the worst Marie." Gary said with a smile.

Marie smiled and looked at Gary " alright go ahead. And Gary I don't know what you are talking about." she said then turned around and walked away. Leaving the two guy's to smile at each other as she walked away.


	4. Reconnaissance

Nation at War

Chapter 4: Reconnaissance

6/7/13

During one of their breaks Travis approached Will. "You know I've been thinking." he prompted and looked at Will to make sure he had his attention.

"All way's a dangerous past time." Will said with a smile then motioned for Travis to continue.

"We are not far from the overlook, it'll take us about a day out of our way but we have plenty of supplies to last that long." Travis said as he sat down beside Will as was his custom on these short breaks. They didn't have any elderly, pregnant women or small children with them so they stuck to the two hours fifteen minute breaks with a lunch in there at about five to six hours.

"We really need to get back and see how the main group is fairing. They could be in trouble and needing help." Will said and looked over at Travis.

"My fathers group will head straight there. They will be two day's out of the way to get to the over look. He wont divert that far off track with limited supplies. We need to see the valley." Travis said as he looked back at Will. He knew he was right about his father. Going to the overlook went against everything his father had taught him. But right now Will's team was closer and a different situation. Travis knew his father would be disappointed if he didn't at least propose his plan to Will.

"And if we go to the overlook we could be too late to help if we are needed." Will said softly as he looked around at the other men in his group. He knew Travis was right about Gary, he wouldn't risk his team backtracking that far.

"With all due respect Will, Marie will take care of herself and the others and my father should catch up with them tonight. We won't catch up until tomorrow anyway. We need information." Travis said with a little more intensity then he meant because now all the guy's were looking at them.

"Let's walk a minute." Will said as he stood up and walked away from the group about twenty feet with Travis following him.

"I'm sorry that came out harsher than intended." Travis said slightly ashamed of his behavior but willing to stick by his plan of action.

"No need to apologize. Just remember in the future every word we say is listened to. I agree we need information but not at the expense of the group." Will said with in a tone that said this should end now.

"I'm sorry sir but I disagree. There are a hundred plus people up there. If they are in trouble there is nothing we will be able to do to help. You just want to rejoin your wife and make sure she is alright. Personal lives are on hold now." Travis said as he stood up as straight as possible squaring his shoulders to show Will he was not going to back down on this issue. "We are so close to the overlook it would be foolish to go up the mountain just to hike back down once you've seen your wife is safe." Travis saw anger flash through Will's eye's and wondered briefly if he had gone just a little to far.

"Travis…" Will said and paused as he let his anger subside a little before he continued. "You are right of course. We will detour to the overlook. It will take us the rest of the day to get there. Make sure everyone is ready to go please." he said then turned his back to Travis looking up the mountain.

"Of course sir." Travis said and slipped back to the others who were waiting curiously to see what had just transpired. They could see the body language was sever and the conversation was short.

"What was that about?" one of the drivers asked when Travis returned to them.

"We discussed the direction we should go. Check your packs we are going to the overlook before rejoining the main group up the mountain." Travis said then walked away to go check his own pack.

Marie had finished her normal round of the camp and now stood at the edge looking down the trail to see if there was any change in her husbands missing party. The main party have been in there new home for about two and a half day's now. Gary and his men had shown up the day before.

'Will where are you?' Marie thought to herself as she stared out at the forest looking for any sign of movement.

"Marie are you alright?" Sydney asked softly as she walked up beside her.

"My husband and his driver are still missing. They should have got here last night like Gary and his men." Marie said softly without diverting her attention from the tail.

"He's alright Marie. They'll be here." Sydney said softly hoping she had enough conviction in her voice to give Marie some hope.

"I hope you are right…" Marie said softly then turned around and walked back into camp to see how the kitchen area, medical area, and latrines were coming along.

"I hope I am to… Jake is with him." Sydney said just above a whisper as she stared down the trail for several more minutes then also turned to go back into camp. She needed to see how the branch walls were coming for her "dr.'s office."

"She need's something to take her mind off the worry." Carrie said when Sydney returned.

"I agree but short of telling the enemy "Here we are." I don't know what we could do. And she's not the only one with family missing." Sydney said and shrugged slightly as she looked at the wall that had been finished. It is made up of tree branches that are woven together and tied with vines to make sure they stayed together. They were partially buried to hold them up securely.

"Yeah I know she's not the only one with missing family. But she feels responsible. It was her idea to hide the cars and abandon the dump truck farther south towards Georgia." Carrie said softly and smiled at Sydney when she turned around to look at her.

"All of you have great fondness of her." Sydney said looking at Carrie. "She must be a descent boss." she said then returned to examining the other wall that was being put up.

"She is, she actually does care about us all. You've seen her up at all hours of the day and night helping and making sure everyone is taken care of. She's no different at work." Carrie said with a sense of pride in her job and her boss.

"Yes I have seen that." Sydney said then walked around to the other side of the wall to see how the guy's were doing.

Will and his men made it to the overlook around eight that night and set up camp about a hundred yards away in the forest so that they could make sure they weren't inadvertently spotted.

"What about a fire?" a young man asked as he picked up a few nice size branches together.

"Unfortunately Jake no. We are to close to the edge of the forest. The smoke could be seen in the Valley." Will said as he got his sleeping gear ready.

"Will how do you and Marie know what you are doing?" Kevin asked curiously as he laid down in one of the blankets Gary and his family had brought with them from their home.

"We uhm… plan ahead. That's why we stayed here. We know the terrain. Plus we go camping every month remember." Will said once the laid down on his bed.

"Plan hum. Seems to me ya'll knew something was going to happen." Jake said more curious then accusingly.

"Not really. Have you paid attention to our own government lately? We are making more enemy's then friends. More and more countries are burning our flag." Travis said while he laid on his own bed.

"Exactly. Marie and I have always prepared for the worst. If you do that nothing surprises you and when it does happen you can still function enough to get out of dodge instead of running home to hide." Will said and smiled at Jake and Kevin.

"It's very true and a common practice among a lot of families. Just no one talks about it in the open. If you had known that we had a plan to get out of town if something happened. What would you have done?" Travis asked the two young men curiously.

Jake and Kevin looked at each other then shrugged. Kevin looked back at Will. "I hopefully would have gotten my parents and found you." Kevin said then kind of looked off into the darkness thinking of his parents.

"Exactly. You would have lead the enemy to my house. Then once the enemy would have caught you they would interrogate you to find out where We are." Will said as he motioned around at the people who was following him.

"Interrogate is probably the wrong word. Torture or murder would probably be better. And you would have no idea where we had gone. It would have put your family and ours at great risk." Travis said as he looked around at the boy's to see if their words had sunk in at all.

"I guess you are right." Kevin said and sighed. "I still wish I had been brave enough to go protect my parents." he said as he laid down putting his arms behind his head.

"They would have wanted you to save yourself Kevin. We will get word down to the valley that we are safe in the next couple of weeks." Will said softly as he watched Kevin sigh again then roll over. "Time for sleep. Jake your up for watch first."

The next morning they ate some breakfast bars then packed up their small camp. Once they had everything stored away they slowly moved down to the overlook and cautiously ran across the small parking area to the overlook wall. To the left they could view the mountain range that wrapped around the town. The right of the overlook they could see the town. Military vehicles are blocking the main roads into the town creating checkpoints.

"Will looks like they've set up command in the town hall." Travis said and pointed to the flags flying high above the town hall.

"I figured they would. That's where all the records are. A hundred plus people missing in a town like this isn't going to be hard to notice." Will said as he shifted his gaze around the town.

"Our place is out side the block aid." Kevin said with hope again as he looked around at the farm lands just outside of town.

"I'd say the farms will be left to tend to their flocks but watched carefully. The military will still want to eat." Travis said as he looked around the outskirts of the town as well. "Which means your place is out side the town to." He said as he looked over at Will.

"Well as far as anyone knows Marie and I have been gone all week. When we came in everyone was at work." Will said as he looked over to where his house sits on the outskirts of town.

"They have no reason to watch a house that's been vacant all week." Travis said and smiled.

"We will have to make a plan to get to my house and get more blankets and all." Will said as he turned to Travis. "Ok we have a basic knowledge of where they are. Any arguments now to getting back with the others?" Will asked then smirked at his young friend.

"No arguments." Travis said and laughed as Will quickly ran back across the parking area into the woods. They all picked up their stuff and started their long day of hiking.

Marie looked around the camp one last time that night. She sighed then grabbed her bag slung it over her shoulders. 'I have to find out what's happened' she thought as she turned around to find her way blocked by Gary.

"Marie. Are you all right?" Gary asked curiously. He'd been watching her ever since himself and his men had returned. He had noticed she was becoming more and more worried and agitated in the two day's since he had arrived.

"I'm fine Gary. Is something wrong?" Marie asked kind of cold wishing he was back with his family.

"Where are you going?" Gary asked as he crossed his arms and locked eyes with her.

"You know where I'm going. What do you want Gary?" Marie said kind of heated.

"And what are all these people going to think when you disappear knowing Will's not came back?" Gary asked curiously uncrossing his arms.

"Who cares. It's not like Will and I are abandoning them. I'm going to search for him and his team." Marie said a little irritated.

"If they are not here by noon tomorrow we will send a search party out for them." Gary said softly and motioned for her to put her stuff down. "These people will feel abandoned to wake up tomorrow and find you gone. You can't do that to them." he said as he set down himself.

"I can't wait until noon Gary I have to know now. They should have been here right after you got here. They need help. I need to find them." Marie said as she stood there looking out into the darkness that surrounded the camp.

"Marie do you think I don't want to go traipsing into the woods to find my son. They have enough supplies to last them till tomorrow night. We cant just disappear in the middle of the night to go find them. It's too dangerous." Gary said as he watched her, he saw that she sighed and he knew he had reached her.

"Noon no later." Marie said in a pleading tone that told Gary he won't be able to stop her the next time.

"No later." Gary said and nodded his understanding. And watched her set her pack back down and get her sleeping gear back out.

The next morning a rock hit a tree truck close to Marie. 'Well James isn't on duty.' she thought then started making her way to the edge of camp grabbing her shot gun as she went by her sleeping area. "You get a rock to?" She asked just above a whisper as she walked up beside Gary.

Gary nodded as he watched down the trail. Marie hunkered down and ran to the other side of the trail and made sure she was loaded and ready to go. She leaned around a tree aiming her gun down the trail just in time to see some movement. Her heart beating faster then ever, hoping beyond hope it was her husband and his team. Wishing they would come around the bend so she could see what was coming up the trial. And terrified that it was their enemy. Marie closed her eye's for a second as she breathed in and out trying to settle her nerves. She watched the trail more movement, a person. Three people.

"Stop where you are!" Marie yelled as now eight people were out in the open now. Two were helping a third.

"Don't anyone make a move." Will said quietly to his team of drivers. "Marie, it's me Will. I have an injured man here." Will said froze in his place.

"Who's hurt?" Sydney asked curiously from several paces back towards camp.

"One of our drivers named Devon." Will called back as the young man between himself and Travis readjusted his weight tugging on both Travis and Will. "Quit." he hissed.

"That's my husband alright." Marie said with a smile as she looked over at Gary. "Thanks." She said softly as she walked around the tree and started down the trail with her gun slung over her shoulder.

Sydney hollered at a couple of guy's standing close to her and asked them to help the injured driver back to the makeshift "Dr.'s office."

Once everyone was checked out by Sydney Will and Marie had set up their tent. It was a nice sized ten person tent, they had split up the weight of the tent between the two of them so that neither would be over exerted by the time it was all done with. They were sitting out side of their tent when Gary approached with his two sons Travis and James.

"Have a seat and we can discuss what happened." Will said and motioned to the ground around a small fire that they had built.

"James dear will you run and get Sydney for me please. No emergency I just want her to hear this." Marie said before James sat down.

"Sydney?" Will asked curiously as James when to go find their "Dr."

"Sydney is the "Dr." we have. She is a nurse practitioner. Closest thing we have. Her brother in a paramedic." Marie said and smiled over at her husband.

"Then that would be Jake. He was a big help out there when Devon fell of the trail… still haven't quite figured out how he managed that." Will said then shrugged.

"Yes Marie?" Sydney asked curiously wondering why she was being included in their meeting.

"Have a seat Dr. we need to get up to date on everything that's happened of the last few day's." Marie said and smiled motioning for her and James to take a seat.


	5. The Storm

Nation at War

Chapter 5: The Storm

6/14/13

"I think we should keep a small group down by the overlook so that they can keep an eye on these troops." Travis said as he looked around the small group most of whom were nodding at his suggestion.

"To noticeable. We need some different areas to see the town from. So that we are not opening ourselves up to our enemy at the same point every time. That's just asking for them to come find us. The mountains surround the town on three sides we can rotate through different area's." Marie said as she drew in the dirt her version of the town and mountains.

"Yes that's a good idea but it will take us twice as long to get to some of those places on the far side of the town. We need information quickly." James said and looked at his father who was deep in thought.

"Your all right. What we need is several teams to do recon. One or two long term say two weeks on the other side of town and a couple closer that can make it back to us here in say 48 hours." Gary said pointing to spots on the far side of the dirt drawn town then closer in where he thought the overlook would be located.

"Great idea. Now lets get down to who would command these recon missions. Travis seems to have a good head, he's proven that to me all ready." Will said and nodded over to Travis.

"Yes my son would do as one of the commanders. But we need to try and pick some that are not ourselves. We can't all go off do recon and still be in charge here. We'll have to pick probably ten people we trust and rotate out with them so that no one is always on patrol." Gary said and looked at his son to make sure he took no offence.

"Dad's right. I by no means think I'm in charge of anything but you three are. Ya'll need to stay at camp instead of being pulled away all the time you need trusted advisers." Travis said as she shook his head slightly.

"The men and women here in this meeting are the trusted advisers. We just need to increase the number of trusted patrol commanders. Now any suggestions on who or where to set up our watch posts?" Marie said and looked at everyone then pointed back at the map.

"Marie." Sydney said and leaned forward slightly. "What about medical supplies and training for the patrols? Myself and Jake can't go on every mission plus we will need more supplies if our patrols meet any soldiers." she said once she had Marie's attention.

"Good point. We will have to teach basic first aid to anyone who has any medical backgrounds high school or college courses. As for the later we will just have to avoid the enemy until we can get more supplies." Will said and looked around curiously to see if anyone had any suggestions for the medics.

Names were thrown around for several hours until the small group believed they had a good bunch of men and women assigned to the key area's that would be needed over the next several weeks.

"All right everyone that's enough for tonight. Lets get some sleep and see what comes of tomorrow. Looks like a storm." Marie said as she looked up at the sky with it's building clouds.

"First things first. Everyone take a section of camp and make sure everyone has a semi descent shelter and their stuff tied down." Will said then issued out designated area's for each person to evaluate the camp.

Everyone made their rounds of the camp, with the designated area's of the camp to the main command group and advisors they covered the entire camp in roughly thirty minutes. Some people seemed to take offence when they were told to tighten up some tie downs until the wind started to kick up and one person's stuff flew off the ground and actually hit him in the side where he was laying comfortably not bothering to follow his instructions.

"That'll teach you. They know what they are doing. You should listen!" a bystander said as he helped capture the young mans' belongings.

"Yeah, yeah I hear ya… and I felt it…" the young man said with a huff while rubbing his side. He knelt down and retied his stuff very securely to the base of the tree he had made his home for the time being.

Once Marie and Will climbed into their tent. Marie looked over at Will and smiled. "It's good to have you here. I was very worried about you." she said and sighed softly as she hugged her husband.

"And I was worried about you my dear. This is a new world now though. We have to get information when ever the opportunity arises. Of course that was not my opinion when I was out there. But Travis was and is right." Will said as he continued to hug her then laid his head on Marie's.

"This will be the first storm we'll weather. It may break some of their will's. They may want to return to their homes…" Marie said softly as she closed her eye's and laid her head on his chest softly.

"We'll make it work. No worries. Hakuna Matata." Will said and laughed at his joke about one of their child hood movies.

Marie laughed "Hakuna Matata, huh." She said and smiled up at her husband. "Even after believing you dead and worrying about you, you come up with a "Lion King" quote." She said and shook her head as she pulled away from him and laid down.

"I couldn't help it,… it seamed appropriate." Will said and laughed then leaned over and kissed Marie. "Good night my dear. I love you."

"Good night, I love you to." Marie said and smiled as she covered up while watching him do the same. She laid there for a good while listening to the storm and watching her husband drift off to sleep. Finally exhaustion and the sound of the rain made her drift off to sleep as well.

Marie lay asleep in the tent with the storm rumbling overhead her dreams making it difficult to relax.

*Marie it's all your fault, we've all died because of you! We would have lived had it not been for you making us come up here. You killed us all…* she rolled over in her sleeping bag kind of whining in her sleep.

Will had been awake for an hour or so because of the wind, thunder and lighting going on in the storm. He looked over at his wife the best he could in the dark but she seemed to be fine so he sighed and closed his eyes trying to go back to sleep.

*How could you! My baby! She might have survived in the town! You made me come up here and deliver her in the wilderness! She was too fragile to be out here! I should have never listened to you!…* Marie flung her hand over her head then laid it down across her forehead and huffed.

Will opened his eyes again and looked over at Marie but again she was still sleeping. He shrugged lightly believing the storm was making him hear things.

*My wife, Marie, you knew she wasn't the healthiest! But still you brought us out to the middle of no where! Horrible suffering she went through without her medication! How could you have done that to her. And my boy's they did everything for you and you let them die! They could have been great but you left them as patrol commanders. You knew they would run into the enemy it's your fault you useless woman!* again Marie rolled over but now she was sweating and actively trying to fight the dream murmuring "No I didn't, I didn't know, I didn't mean to…"

Will looked over at Marie again confused he could hear her but couldn't understand her mumbled words. He sat up and watched her trying to understand the words she was saying.

*Murderer! You are as bad as the enemy! You caused their deaths! Old people, teenagers, and babies are all dead because of your incompetence! All your fault! Murderer!* Marie rolled her head back and forth a couple times. "no…it's not my fault…I didn't do it…how could I have…"she mumbled to herself.

Will had had enough he uncovered and moved over beside Marie. "Marie… Honey wake up." he said softly trying to shake her awake.

"Murder…death…not…fault…" Marie said softly as she tried rolling over again.

This time Will understood the words. "Marie!" he said a little stronger trying to pull her out of her nightmare. He held onto her to keep her from rolling away from him. He heard a sound like wood tearing and splintering.

(BOOM!) the whole ground shook and Marie screamed as she jumped out of Will's arms with cold sweat dripping down her face. She was out of breath and confused.

"Help! It hurt's some one please help…" they heard a weak voice outside. It was about twenty feet away where the top half of a tree had splintered and fell into the camp onto a dozen people.

"Marie it's all right. You had a night mare, but a tree fell and woke you. I've got to go." Will said as he pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back. "Lay down and get some actual rest." he said as he pulled back from her and kissed her forehead then made her lay back down.

"I should help!" Marie said as she threw her sleeping bag back to get up.

"No!" Will said and put one of his hands on hers and the other on her shoulder. "There are plenty of men. You stay here. I can handle a tree." he said with a determined look in his eyes, and she knew it was best to let him win this one.

"Alright but holler at me if you need me." Marie said and smiled up at him.

"I always need you." Will said with a smile and covered her back up once she laid down. "I'll be back soon." he said softly blowing a kiss at her from the door, then slipped out into the night.

Marie listened to the men her husband had recruited once he got out of the tent. They tried for hours to move part's of the tree to free people who were stuck under the massive tree top. They had decided to free people tonight by having people lifting tree limbs and pulling the trapped people free of the tree then in the daylight assess the damages to the camp and equipment then try to cut up the tree. She had finally drifted off to sleep around dawn when most of the commotion was starting to die down. Everyone except one person had been freed from the tree. Unknown to her that last person just happened to be Carrie, 6.5 months pregnant employee of Marie's.

Marie woke, unsure when she had fallen asleep, to quiet voices out side the tent. "I can't believe Marie's not out here. I mean with all the love and affection her employee's have for her and she's not out here I don't understand that. Carrie most of all supports Marie." it was Sydney talking to some one.

"Why are you being so critical sis? She may not be in camp at all. She may be doing recon on the town or she could be checking the rest of the camp for damages." this voice Marie didn't recognize but she new Sydney had a brother named Jake and he was a paramedic for the town.

"I don't know where she is but I know she's not out here with this tree. Carrie believes very strongly that Marie cares for her and the rest of the employee's of the Grocery store. If that's true where is she?" Sydney asked her younger brother curiously. Their voices were getting softer as they walked towards where Marie believed the tree had fallen.

"You have no right to judge her, you've only known her for a few day's and they have been very demanding on her. Maybe her husband…take care… tree…" Jake said but it was very hard to make out the last of the conversation as they walked out of ear shot.

"What's wrong with Carrie?" Marie asked herself as she got up and got ready to go out of the tent. She had a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach. She grabbed two of the full water containers that can clip onto a belt loop, and made herself breath deep before going out side to find her husband.

Will was standing with his back to the tent wiping sweat from his forehead looking at the tree. He dried his hand on his shirt then pushed his hair back out of his face. "How in the hell am I supposed to get his off her… and why her…" He said softly to himself trying to figure out a way of getting Carrie out from under the tree.

"Fate has a funny way of biting us in the ass. Now when were you going to tell me?" Marie said startling her husband he hadn't hear her walk up but he saw a very dangerous look in her eyes.

"You needed the rest. I was about to go wake you though." Will said apologetically. "She is under the trunk. We can't get her out like we got the rest." he said turning back to the tree.

"How is she under the trunk? And where?" Marie asked curiously looking at the tree.

"She is under that part some where. That's where we hear her. She said her legs." Will said and shrugged slightly now Marie knew everything he did.

"Ok." Marie said then started walking towards the tree.

"Marie what are you doing?" Will asked as he started after her a couple of paces behind. "Marie where… Don't you dare." he said very warningly as he caught a glimpse of where she was heading. When they had been trying to get Carrie out like the others they had created a small opening in the tree branches. All movement around the camp had stopped as they watched Marie and Will.

"I have to…sorry…" Marie said as she glanced back at her husband just before ducking under the tree limbs then crawling under the tree trying to find Carrie.

"Marie! Damn you!" Will said to himself then went to go after her when he was caught by Gary.

"Leave her my friend. She will be able to tell us better how to move this tree off of Carrie." Gary said as he held tight to Will's arm.

"And you would just let your wife go in there would you?" Will asked accusingly.

"My wife wouldn't have gone in, but yes we have to get this off or we will lose not just one but two lives. I couldn't live with that knowing we could have done something to prevent it. Your wife is smart and talented with a very deep moral code, she would never forgive you if you stop her and Carrie and her baby dies." Gary said maintaining his strong grip on Will.

"That's why I love her." Will said and looked away from Gary to the spot in the tree where Marie had disappeared. Gary Nodded then released Will's arm and walked away satisfied that Will wouldn't do anything foolish.


End file.
